Bangkok : Around 1,500 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were rescued from several vessels on Monday off the shores of Malaysia and Indonesia after being abandoned by their traffickers, according to officials.
Around 1,100 migrants arrived in at least three vessels in Langkawi Island, a popular tourist destination in the Andaman Sea in northern Malaysia, a police official told Efe news agency.
At least 400 more people were found on Monday in the Indonesian region of Aceh, north of Sumatra, while 500 others were found in the same area on Sunday.
Most of the migrants, including women and children, are from the Muslim Rohingya minority group, labelled “stateless” by the UN and persecuted by Myanmar, which does not acknowledge them as citizens.
The rescues coincide with Thailand’s detail that uncovered several hidden camps where hundreds of migrants are imprisoned by human trafficking rings.
Since the beginning of May, Thai authorities have discovered at least three illegal camps and dozens of graves with the remains of migrants, mostly Rohingyas, in Songkhla province along the Malaysian border.
According to investigators, the migrants — held captive until their relatives pay a ransom — died of exposure and disease while at the camp.
Some 20 people, including local politicians, were arrested for having ties with the illegal camps and around 15 policemen have been transferred to other places for negligence.
Every year, thousands of Rohingyas embark on the perilous journey towards Malaysia to escape from persecution and poverty in western Myanmar; however, migrants pass through Thailand en route, where they often become enslaved by human traffickers.